I'm sure we've all been in a room full of people and picked up a negative vibe, or a coldness / sadness, or maybe it's just been amongst a few friends.

How did you respond?

Depending how you're wired will generally determine your behaviour but we can behave intentionally outside of our 'default' if required.

Remember, thermometers READ the temperature in a room, thermostats DETERMINE the temperature in the room!

I first heard this many years ago and it serves as a great reminder periodically to take the initiative in some social situations to improve things for everyone. When the temperature drops below where the thermostat is set, it kicks in.

For those extroverts that like to be the life & soul of the party, (those familiar with the DISC personality profile, these would be high 'I's or 'D's), speaking or acting in a way that lifts the vibe in the room and brings more cheer or hope, may naturally make you a thermostat, without always realising it.

For others, particularly introverts, (the high 'S' & 'C' profiles within DISC), you may well behave more as a thermometer, detect something is not right and either leave or withdraw from interacting (hoping someone will lift the atmosphere!).

Do you respond to a drop in temperature or react to it?

Different is not necessarily wrong

Now, none of these behaviours mentioned are necessarily wrong, but as we're people of value and looking to make the world a better place wherever we are, there's benefit in us being intentional and proactive about being thermostats. Now I don't mean we try and dominate the whole conversation or bring all the attention in the room to ourselves. BUT we can use our words, behaviour, body language etc. to 'lift' the level of positivity in the room. Maybe we need to confront an issue to break a heavy atmosphere, or maybe we just need to be the source of inspiration that gets people focused on good things, and being a positive influence to others present.

Don’t be just a thermometer!

Self-leadership:  it starts with us leading ourselves well and ensuring we're in a good 'state' ourselves, that we've set our internal thermostats to the level we want to live at, and THEN taking intentional action to help improve the environment we find ourselves in.

So the next time you find yourself meeting with others and you detect the need for a boost of encouragement or positivity, TAKE CHARGE and be a thermostat…you'll see the benefit AND others will too.

If you struggle with keeping your self-leadership at the level you'd like, or are interested in finding out more about your personality strengths using DISC, be proactive, book either the DISC Debrief package or schedule a 'Dream Accelerator' free 30-min call TODAY!

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